Norway’s Trondheimsleia Kjernekraft AS and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power are collaborating to conduct a feasibility study on the construction of a power plant based on multiple Korean-designed i-SMR reactors in the municipalities of Aure and Heim.
The study was selected by the South Korean export credit bank Korea Eximbank for support. It will assess the technical, environmental and regulatory requirements for constructing several innovative i-SMR small modular reactors, developed by Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP). The study is expected to begin in the second half of 2025.
The i-SMR is an integrated pressurized water nuclear power reactor with an electrical output of one hundred and seventy megawatts. It is being drafted according to a development roadmap, with the intention of completing the standard design by the end of 2025 and obtaining standard design approval in 2028. According to KHNP, it will require one-third of the investment, and can be constructed in half the time compared to the construction of larger conventional reactors.
Trondheimsleia Kjernekraft was founded in April of this year as a collaboration between the municipalities of Aure and Heim, local energy company NEAS and Norwegian nuclear project developer Norsk Kjernekraft to develop a power plant based on multiple SMRs.
In January of this year, KHNP signed a memorandum of understanding with Norsk Kjernekraft. They agreed to actively cooperate in the sharing of information for the introduction of the i-SMR and the conducting of preliminary feasibility studies on candidate sites.
Steffen Oliver Sæle is the CEO of Trondheimsleia Kjernekraft. He said, “We want to build nuclear power in Norway in the same way we built the oil and gas industry – through partnerships with world-leading companies. The collaboration with KHNP, which built the Barakah nuclear power plant in the United Arab Emirates, is a concrete expression of this strategy.”
Seungyeol Lim is the Vice President of International Business Development at KHNP. He said, “Norwegian host municipalities are promoting the introduction of SMR technology to strengthen the local economy and secure energy supply. Together with Norsk Kjernekraft for an i-SMR project adapted to local conditions, with the aim of further developing it into a commercial project. It is particularly worth noting that this is the first i-SMR project to receive support from Korea Eximbank’s international feasibility study program, which gives the initiative great significance.”
In a joint statement, the mayors of Aure and Heim said, “We welcome the interest of a global player like KHNP to our region. Together with the business community and our energy partner NEAS, we want to create a regional power surplus that enables the green industry of the future.”
Norsk Kjernekraft intends to build, own and operate SMR power plants in Norway in collaboration with power-intensive industry. It will prepare license applications in accordance with national regulations and international standards. It will pursue the International Atomic Energy Agency’s approach for milestones, and focus on what creates value in the early phase. Funding will take place in collaboration with capital-strong industry and solid financial players.
The Aure and Heim area is one of four possible locations for a nuclear power plant that Norsk Kjernekraft has announced, the other municipalities are Vardø, Øygarden and Halden.
Norsk Kjernekraft submitted a proposal to Norway’s Ministry of Energy in November of 2023 for an assessment of the construction of an SMR plant in the Taftøy industrial park which is a common industrial area in the border area between Aure and Heim in Trøndelag county. The plant is designed to consist of several SMRs, with a total generating capacity of up to one thousand and five hundred megawatts if the plant is realized in its entirety. In April of this year, the Norwegian government commissioned several government agencies to develop an Environmental Impact Assessment program for the proposed SMR power plant.